RORO Bus in Palawan

I’ve been seeing the new RORO Bus here in Palawan lately. It got the craze of the people because this was the first time they saw an aircon bus that passes by the National Road. I’ve been wanting to try it out and after our trip to Sabang in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan I was finally able to ride one of these buses.

I could not help but compare the new buses to the shuttle services available from Puerto Princesa to El Nido such as Lexus Shuttle Service and Eulen Joy. The following list are my comparisons to the bus versus the van transport service.

1. Schedule

If you ask me why I love Lexus Shuttle Service it’s because of their fixed schedule. Whether they are full or not, their van will leave on schedule. Plus, they have a target travel time. Fortunately, the new RORO Bus also does that but it only has 2 trips everyday to El Nido, 6AM and 2PM. Unlike Lexus who now has 5 trips a day to El Nido.

Buses have a travel time from Puerto Princesa to El Nido of around 6-7 hours.

But according to the conductors that I’ve been talking too, there will be more buses that will arrive at the end of this month (February 2012) and their target is to have a trip every hour from 4AM to 8PM to El Nido. Not only is this good news to travellers but also to locals as the latest bus that passes on the National Road is only about 3 to 4PM, with the full implementation of the RORO Bus the locals will now have the convenience of the transportation even in the evening.

Personally, I’m excited to see the developments of the RORO Bus as this will push the quality of service and lower prices around Palawan. I think I’ll make another post on their schedules when all their buses are here.

RORO Bus Schedule.The 11 PM Schedule for Southern Palawan is currently not running.This is also the schedule going back.

ROUTE

North Palawan: From Puerto Princesa to El Nido or vice versa.

South Palawan: From Puerto Princesa to Rio Tuba or vice versa.

Yahoo! Night trips!!!!

2. Price

Vans from Puerto Princesa to El Nido costs 500 Pesos/person but the RORO Bus only costs 483 Pesos/person. The downside of the RORO Bus though is that it is expensive when you’re only going to ride short distances like from Puerto Princesa to Roxas, vans only cost 150-180 Pesos/person while the RORO Bus costs 220 Pesos/person.

Update January 14, 2014: The current rate is 380 Pesos/person (one-way)Â from Puerto Princesa to El Nido. Southern Palawan trips are still the same.

One of the things I hate about the transportation in the Philippines is that it does not have good leg room for someone as tall as me but for the RORO Bus I give it a thumbs up as I could comfortably sit on the seat without hitting my knees on the front seat.

4. View Outside

Ever got a sit in the middle of van and you want to see the view outside? It’s one of the hardest feelings but with the RORO Bus I think that problem is no longer a problem.

Big Window of the RORO Bus

5. Centrifugal Force

There are a lot of zigzag parts on the road when I rode the RORO Bus, I never felt the centrifugal force that pushes me to the window whenever we made a turn like in the vans. Therefore, this ads to more comfort.

6. Night Trips

Starting March 8, 2012 the RORO Bus going to El Nido from Puerto Princesa now has a night trip everyday. Their bus leaves at 10PM and will be arriving around 3 to 4 AM. This is good as you would have more time to go around and enjoy the attraction of El Nido and Puerto Princesa than having to travel during daytime. Hooray!

Would I prefer the RORO Bus to the Shuttle Vans?

In terms of comfort the RORO Bus exceeds the Shuttle Vans but due to the lack of schedule I still prefer the shuttle vans as my priority is to have more flexibility with my time. But it’s still too early to make a conclusion, I’ll be waiting for the advancement of the RORO Buses here in Palawan.

Update: They now have more schedules than the Shuttle Vans. I now prefer RORO Bus. 😀

For more information/reservation on the RORO Buses in Palawan you may contact them at the following numbers

Hi Juanito, even if Ro-Ro Bus does make it 5 hours you’ll be arriving in San Jose Terminal in Puerto Princesa at 12NN. I suggest you ride the first trip of Lexus Shuttle Service around 5AM so you can be sure to reach your flight.

Hi Juanito. As a (not so long time) resident of El Nido, I must say that you have to add at least an hour to the 5-hour land trip from PPC to EN because of the stopovers in Roxas and Taytay. The 5-hour trip is under ideal conditions, i.e., dry weather. Josiah, you are a great help in spreading the news that El Nido should not be expensive. Thanks.

We also tried the RORO Bus going to El Nido just last Sunday, Feb 26. We made it in exactly 5.5 hours. Departed PPC 6am then we arrived in El Nido 1130am. We had a 30 min stop over in Roxas plus yung mga pag pick up nila ng passengers along the way. Overall, it was comfy. Kuya Driver and Conductor said they also have plans of having trips to Southern Palawan soon.

Hi, guys, so happy that I found this post about transport in Palawan!
I will be arriving in PP next wednesday 25th April around 11:25. My plan is to visit the Underground River in Sabang before proceeding to El Nido.
So, do you know if RoRo buses can take me to Sabang in the afternoon of 25th April around 14:00?I saw there is a bus to El Nido, but, how can I get to SaBang and then from Sabang to El Nido? Can I still go with RoRo buses?
If is not possible on the 25th, I will stay in PP and will go to Sabang on the 26th, no problem.
Many thanks in advance for your help!

wow, nyt trip sounds fantastic!! been trying to plan a tour tis july and we want to maximize r stay due to limited tym… tis nyt trip is really a good news 4 us.. however, is it safe to travel at nyt frm PPC to elnido considering d rough rds and they said there are no street lyts? is palawan safe frm terrorist/holdapers? 😯

Concreting of PPC to El nido are almost complete. The travel reduce at 6hrs from 12 hrs. Law enforcers should double its security for the safety of passengers. ROro bus should post a security guard at terminal. No pick up of passengers during night time

Hi Lemuel, pauuwiin mo naman ako. I work somewhere in the middle of the national road in Palawan and live somewhere in the town where the RORO bus passes. I ride the night bus by being picked up in the middle of the road in order to come home. But I understand your concern for security.

I tried this during my recent trip to Palawan (as in last last night lang =)) and it was super comfy. Hindi rin super lamig unlike other aircon buses. And the night trip was fast (about five hours lang), way shorter than nung papunta, which took almost 7 hours.

to roro bus palawan your drivers and conductors are riping the company off there are picking people up and not giving tickets out just pocketing the money .they noticed i was watching them and gave me my fare back to keep my mouth shut after i asked why some people on the bus had no tickets

Hi Tony, there are no taxis from puerto princesa to el nido but you can hire a van to take you to el nido from puerto princesa. I suggest contacting Lexus Shuttle Service for the vans. I hope that helps.

hi we are going to el nido this march and we are planning to go to underground river on our fourth day wat is d earliest time of departure from el nido to sabang? dadaan din po ba ang roro bus? Thanks! 😛

I saw a new set of buses in Puerto Terminal, this time its a color white, yellow and red. The bus name is CHERRY. According to driver of Roro bus, those buses were sister company of Victory Liner in Manila.

First, congrats for your blog and thanks for all the info you share with us

I checked this post and looks like the RORO buses is working again but I would like to be sure, I’ve been reading that they had problems before and stop operating, and now according to your post they are working again but with less buses, am I right?

Hi Josiah, have I’ve been refering your blog to plan for my Palawan trip next year. Why are the RORO buses not operating as of Sept 2014 as you updated? Is it temporary due to off-season or are they no longer operating in Palawan? Cos a night trip buses would really do me a favor during my trip soon. Are Daytripper,Lexus or any other buses vans company make night trip now? Thanks.

Hi Nadira, I’m not really sure why they stopped and if ever they would be going back. There’s Cherry Bus that you can ride that takes the night trip. Though I don’t really recommend doing the night trip.

May I ask why you would not recommend the night trip> I will be travelling with the whole family. Mom, sister and her kids. and were planning to leave PP past 5pm. I would rather spend the night in PP if its not safe, although it will definitely affect our itinerary. would appreciate tips and suggestions. Cheers!

What I mean about night trips are the trips that would leave around 9PM or 10PM, as you would not have enough time to rest for your tour or flight. I’ve done it before and I’m still doing it now, but I do not recommend it. Only if you really need to do it.

If safety is a concern, I’ve done the night trips more times than I could remember and nothing has happened to me for all the night trips that I did.

Yes. It’s still worth it to travel to El Nido even on those dates. I’ve tried Island Hopping on those months. But it would be unlucky if there is a storm during those times as the Island Hopping Tours do get cancelled for safety reasons.

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